Recipe: Cranberry Brie Bites

It's been hard to find time to blog...and time to cook for three kids under age seven. Most nights I'm a short order cook. No one eats at the same time and certainly no one eats the same meal.


Enter Memorial Day weekend when we are invited to our first BBQ in our new neighborhood. I wanted to be a good guest and bring something special but it's tough to cook with a toddler underfoot. I had saved this appetizer recipe from a recent Stonewall Kitchen order and decided to try it. It was a huge hit at the party and I looked like a cooking goddess! (Which I'm not.)


And the numbers are great for CFers! Just one-sixth of a sheet of puff pastry has ten grams of fat, including five grams of saturated fat. Brie isn't the fattiest cheese but certainly packs a punch at 25% of the daily recommend value. 


The hardest part of the recipe was figuring out which cooler the puff pastry sheets were in at the grocery store. When working with puff pastry, make sure it's thawed all the way before your start working with it because it makes it easier to mold.


Ingredients:

Photo from Stonewall Kitchen

1. One package of Pepperidge Farm puff pastry (two sheets in one box)
2. One Brie triangle, rind trimmed off
3. Your favorite jam or chutney. I made mine with Stonewall Kitchen's apple cranberry chutney.
4. A mini muffin tin (if you don't have a mini muffin tin I highly recommend buying one, I'm always coming across recipes that use a mini muffin tin).


Instructions:
Unfold the puff pastry sheets and cut each sheet along the fold. Then cut each strip into three squares so you have a total of 18 squares.
Make sure the dough is thawed, then press each square into a spot in the mini muffin tin.
Top with one-inch pieces of brie followed by a teaspoon of your favorite jam or chutney.
Bake at 375F for 10-12 minutes until the edges of the puff pastry brown lightly. Make sure to cool in the tins for 5-10 minutes. They are best eaten after they have cooled off but are still warm.


Enjoy!

Recipe: (Divine) Mashed Sweet Potatoes

Mashed Sweet Potatoes

Feel like I hit the jackpot with this recipe.  I needed to use up a few sweet potatoes purchased as an “impulse buy” at the grocery store a couple weeks ago. And this was a much easier recipe to make than the other sweet potato recipe that I found a while back.

This recipe uses ingredients you probably already have in your own CF kitchen.  Minimal prep, simple ingredients, one pot! Plus this particular recipe is higher in fat from the dairy ingredients and lower in sugar from the minimal use of sugary ingredients.

Cleveland Clinic did a great comparison between sweet potatoes and white potatoes and found that sweet potatoes are lower in total carbs even though they pack more sugar. The bonus is that sweet potatoes pack more vitamins and fiber – both important to CF digestion.

Ingredients:
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces  
2 tablespoons heavy cream  (I used the half n half we give to my CFer to drink)
1/2 teaspoon salt  
1 teaspoon sugar (I used white sugar)
2  lbs. sweet potatoes, peeled, quartered lengthwise, and cut crosswise into 1/4 inch-thick (about 2 large or 3 medium-small potatoes)
Nutmeg, cinnamon and black pepper to taste

Directions:
Combine butter, cream, salt, sugar, and sweet potatoes in large saucepan. Cook, covered, over low heat, stirring occasionally, until potatoes fall apart when poked with fork. This will take between 30 to 45 minutes. Take off heat and mash sweet potatoes in saucepan with potato masher.You can also put potatoes into kitchen aid mixer and mix. Stir in nutmeg, cinnamon and/or pepper to taste. Serve immediately.

Notes:
Don’t turn the heat up too high – low or medium low heat will do the trick. Just be patient, it took a full 40-45 minutes for  our potatoes to soften.

This recipe says it serves four and it does serve four decent-sized side portions but for a larger family dinner, you would need to double it for sure.

Recipe: Cheesy Chicken Meatballs

Cheesy Chicken Meatballs
As a mom of a CFer, I’m always looking for great ways to combine meat and cheese for that extra fat. And as a full-time working mom of a CFer, if I can find a recipe that can be made during treatment times, even better!

I found the original recipe on AllRecipes.com but it was a little too spicy for the kids. But if you like the taste of Italian chicken sausage, you can’t go wrong with the original version.

The recipe was easy to make but is deceiving. The mixture will actually seem too wet when forming the meatballs but don’t overcook them because they can dry out quickly. If your meatballs look lopsided, just spray your hands with a little cooking spray and reshape once they are on the baking sheet. Or use a cookie scoop with a trigger release to form the meatballs without getting your hands too dirty.

I struggled with what to serve these with but ended up drizzling them with marinara sauce and serving with a cheese garlic bread. These would probably do well in a stroganoff sauce or chicken-based gravy served over egg noodles, or as a meatball sub slathered with marinara sauce and topped with provolone or American cheese.  Could also toss with bow-tie pasta and spinach in a light alfredo sauce for a hearty dish.


Original recipe makes 20 meatballs about 1 to 1.5 inches in diameter


Ingredients
1 pound ground chicken
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/4 cup Philly cream cheese chives and onion spread
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon dry bread crumbs
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
½ teaspoon minced garlic from the jar
1 ½ tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground black pepper


Directions
1.Preheat an oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil, and spray with cooking spray.

2.Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl, then add the wet ingredients, followed by the ground chicken; mix well. Form mixture into 20 meatballs; place on prepared pan.

3.Bake in center of preheated oven until juices run clear, 17 to 18 minutes. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read at least 165 degrees F (74 degrees C).

Recipe: Minestrone Vegetable Soup

It's Labor Day here and I have the urge to make some soup for fall. The boys start school this week and I'm trying to pack my freezer with easy meals to thaw/reheat.

This veggie soup is pretty hearty but I wouldn't call it a stew. My advice is to make it exactly as planned and then if you feel it needs more salt, heap on the parmesan cheese for the extra calories and sodium.

Minestrone Vegetable Soup

Note this recipe halves nicely but I make the full amount and freeze it for the fall.

Ingredients
8 cups chicken broth (2 quarts)
2 cans of cannellini beans (or kidney beans if you prefer)
3-4 carrots (1 cup chopped)
2 stalks celery (½ cup chopped)
1 white onion (1 cup minced)
2 large potatoes (3 cups cubed)
2 cans of petite diced tomatoes (we prefer the Italian spiced ones)
8 tbsp butter
1 cup frozen spinach
1 can tomato paste
4 cloves garlic (I used the pre-minced kind and measure it by the instructions on the jar)
4 tbsp dried parsley
1 tsp salt
1 tsp beef bouillon paste (for that beefy minestrone taste)
1 ½ cups ditalini pasta (can sub in elbow, shell or other small macaroni)
½ to 1 cup grated or shredded parmesan cheese for topping

Instructions
 In a large pot, saute butter, onion, celery, carrots. Then add all other ingredients except the pasta and cheese. Bring pot to boil and simmer for 1 hour. Then add the pasta and simmer for another 20 minutes. Serve with parmesan cheese on top.

Freezing tip: Coat the inside of the container with olive oil before adding the soup, it will prevent your freezer container from permanent stains.

Recipe: Scalloped Sweet Potatoes

I love sweet potatoes but wanted to stay away from the traditional sugared-up versions found on many recipe sites. So I was thrilled to find thisgreat option for scalloped sweet potatoes on the Tasty Kitchen Blog.

But…I’ll be honest; I struggled with the preparation part. It calls for sweet potatoes cut in ¼ inch slices. I’m terrified of knives so my slices ended up more like ½ inch thick with various levels of thickness in each slice. So it kind of turned out crappy. It’s really important to get the sweet potatoes as thin and consistent as possible for the best cooking results.

What is the secret to getting these so thin?

Ingredients

2 pounds sweet potatoes (I just used two large sweet potatoes)
5 strips bacon
½ white onion, chopped finely (add more if you like onion)
2-½ tablespoons white flour
½ teaspoons salt
¼ teaspoons black pepper
1 cup Half N Half
1 cup skim milk
1-¼ cup grated or shredded parmesan cheese

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Peel potatoes and cut into 1/4 inch slices or thinner. Place potatoes in a large pot of boiling water. Cook for 5-10 minutes or until just tender. Don’t overcook! Drain well and set aside.
2. Meanwhile, fry bacon in a large skillet over medium-high heat until crisp. Drain on a paper towel, crumble and set aside.
3. Add chopped onion to bacon drippings and cook until tender. Stir in flour over low heat and cook to a paste. Add salt and pepper. Add milk and cook until mixture thickens slightly.
4. Arrange half of the sweet potatoes in the bottom of an 11×7 inch baking dish. Sprinkle on half of the crumbled bacon. Pour on half of the milk mixture. Arrange remaining potatoes, sprinkle with remaining bacon and pour the rest of the milk mixture over the top. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake for 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender. If desired, brown cheese for 1-2 minutes under the broiler.

Notes:

I use thislittle chopper to mince up the onion – works great!

I had some leftover bacon from my Turkey Meatloaf recipe so I cooked it ahead of time and forgot to save the bacon fat. So I just used a bit of olive oil to fry the onion in.

I would not recommend leaving out the bacon or the onion – the parmesan cheese is a nice touch but the recipe still needs all the flavor it can get. I still think it needs a bit of savory zip in there somewhere so was going to experiment with some herbs next time around.

Potluck tip: if prepared in advance, bake as directed, cover and refrigerate for up to one day. Reheat at 325 degrees for 15 minutes covered, then remove cover and continue heating until warm.

Recipe: Oven Baked Parmesan Chicken

We have been stuck inside since Polar Vortex Part II arrived a few days ago and Big Guy has wasted no time cleaning out the pantry of all the food. Did I mention that my non-CFer has a BMI that plots above the pediatric growth charts? WTH.

Anyway, we were left with pretty much NO ingredients for anything substantial except for this little supper gem. Ironically Big Guy hated it and Lil Guy loved it so we'll make it again.

Photo courtesy of AllRecipes.com

Ingredients
6 to 8 chicken breasts, pounded thin (or just buy them thin and trimmed like we did, it saves time)
1 clove garlic (I used 1/2 tsp minced garlic already in the jar)
1/2 cup melted butter
1/3 cup grated Parmesan
1 cup regular bread crumbs (you can substitute Italian seasoned bread crumbs and skip the next three spices)
1/2 tsp each of dried basil, oregano and Italian seasoning
2 tsp dried parsley (or 2 tbsp. fresh if you want to get fancy)
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (175 degrees C). Spray a shallow glass dish with cooking spray.
2. Combine the garlic and melted butter in one bowl.
3. Combine the bread crumbs, cheese, spices, salt and pepper in another bowl.
4. Dip the chicken pieces in the garlic butter and then into the crumb mixture to coat.
5. Place the coated chicken pieces into the baking dish and drizzle with remaining garlic butter and bake uncovered for 35-40 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and the juices run clear. 

Notes
I made the recipe with four chicken breasts and had lots of garlic butter and breadcrumb coating left over. So I think it would work well with eight small chicken breasts or six medium size ones.
For CFers: I drizzled extra garlic butter on Lil Guy's chicken piece and was surprised to find that it didn't seem soggier than the other pieces. A great way to get in some extra fat calories.
For non CFers: If you are trying to keep calories low, try skipping the butter wash and just top those chicken pieces with the breadcrumb mixture.



This recipe was adapted from AllRecipes.com.  

Recipe: Zucchini Bread

Here's another gem from AllRecipes.com (with alterations). It's a great way to get veggies into kids (even Big Guy will eat it, though he's suspicious of the green flecks in it, and rightfully so).

When the summertime approaches, I get even lazier about cooking. But this recipe easily makes two loaves so usually we'll freeze one and use the other right away. It's also an easy recipe to split up the ingredients and make one full fat loaf for your CFer and another lighter version for everyone else (see notes at end of recipe). 

I've tried making this in a brownie pan too but it really works best in a glass or metal loaf pan to retain the moisture.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup white flour
1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp each of salt, baking soda, and baking powder
3 tsp of cinnamon (if you aren't a cinnamon fan, you might want to cut this down to 2 tsp)
3 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
3 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 cups zucchini - this comes out to about 2 large or 4 small zucchini

Instructions:
1. Lightly grease and flour two 8x4 loaf pans and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
2. Sift the flours, salt, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon together in a bowl
3. Beat the eggs, oil, vanilla and sugar together in a large bowl. Then add the wet mixture to the sifted mixture.
4. Using the large holes of a hand grater, grate the zucchini with skin on until you have two full packed cups. Do not dry or squeeze the zucchini. Then add the zucchini to the bread batter.
5. Bake at 325 degrees for about 50-60 minutes or until tester inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on rack for 20 minutes, remove the bread from the pan and completely cool.

Notes:
The original recipe called for 1 cup walnuts - nuts are a great way to add a bit of fat for the CFer. Also warm it up in the microwave for a few seconds and serve with butter.
To lighten it up for other family members, try replacing the vegetable oil with applesauce but make sure its unsweetened applesauce because there is enough sugar and cinnamon in the recipe already.

Recipe: Oven Roasted Teriyaki Chicken Legs

I'm not sure this chicken recipe qualifies as "high fat" but it was so darn good and pretty easy that I had to share it.

Photo courtesy of AllRecipes.com

Photo and recipe borrowed and modified from AllRecipes.com. It's rare that my cooking actually comes out looking like the photo - this one did!

Another bonus was this recipe calls for oven baking, a sad necessity for us since our grill has been broken for two years (hint hint hubbie!).

Ingredients

5-6 chicken legs, skin left on

1 ½ teaspoons of cornstarch

1 ½ teaspoons of cold water

¼ cup brown sugar (or sub in Splenda)

¼ cup soy sauce – we used La Choy Lite Low Sodium soy sauce – still 23% of DRV of sodium!

1/8 cup cider vinegar

½ clove garlic

1/8 tsp of black pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Place chicken legs in a lightly greased 9x13 baking dish.

2. In a small saucepan over low heat, combine all ingredients except the chicken legs. Simmer, stirring frequently, until sauce thickens and bubbles. This didn’t take too long – only a few minutes. Be sure to watch carefully so it doesn’t start to stick to the pot and burn.

3. Let the sauce cool for a few moments, then brush the chicken on both sides.

4. Bake for an hour uncovered, turning the pieces over and re-basting every 10-20 minutes.

Tips:
The initial recipe called for double the ingredients so would work well for 12 chicken legs.
I always forget to take the chicken legs out of the freezer in the morning. So I put them in a bowl of very hot water for about 15 minutes and that did the trick - they tasted great!

Recipe: Stupidly Easy French Dip Sandwiches

I love this sandwich recipe because it's so darn easy to adjust for CFers and non-CFers! One can of beef consommé has 34% of the daily recommended value of sodium. Plus there's always the option to add more cheese if preferred.

It's also a great all-season option. In the spring, you can add a side salad with high-fat ranch dressing. For summer we pair with corn on the cob (with lots of butter and salt of course). In the fall it's great with roasted red bliss or au gratin potatoes. And in the winter it goes well with baked beans.

Credit has to go to the original cook at AllRecipes.com, where I often find great menu options. I made a few alterations based on some of the reviews. This recipe makes four sandwiches.

Ingredients:
1 10.5 ounce can of beef consommé
(make sure to get consommé and not beef broth)1 cup water
1 pound thinly sliced rare roast beef (we like Sara Lee's rare roast beef)
8-12 slices of high quality provolone cheese (swiss or white cheddar can also work)
4 french rolls (we prefer the french rolls over the Italian rolls but any hoagie roll will do)
1/2 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp onion powder
garlic powder and butter for the bread

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Open the hoagie rolls and lay out on a baking sheet. Spread soft butter on each side of the roll, sprinkle with garlic powder and warm for a few minutes in the oven.
2. Heat the beef consommé, water, rosemary and onion powder in a medium saucepan over medium-heat heat to make rich beef broth. Then place the roast beef in the broth and warm for 3 minutes - do not overcook!
3. Remove the buns from the oven. Arrange the meat on the rolls and top each with 2-3 slices of cheese.
4. Return the sandwiches to the preheated oven for 5 minutes, or until the cheese just beings to melt. We like to use the convection feature when baking. Serve the sandwiches with small bowls of the warm broth for dipping.

Recipe: Flourless Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip Cookies

Sometimes I think it would be a lot easier if Big Guy had CF instead of Lil Guy. Not that I would wish this disease on any child. But Big Guy has an "eat now, ask questions later" approach to food while Lil Guy is suspicious of anything food I put in front of him.

In particular, Lil Guy has strongly established that he does not like the following high-protein foods...
cheese
yogurt
eggs
and
peanut butter

WTH - who doesn't like peanut butter?! Well we've found a solution to the peanut butter problem and it's this cookie recipe. Lil Guy cannot resist cookies. When the cookie tin is empty, he walks around holding it and plaintively calling "cook cook?" It's like something out of the Charles Dickens Oliver Twist book - "Please sir may I have some more?"

I love this recipe because it's high in protein and low(er) in carbs without the flour. Plus, there is not much to the ingredient list. These cookies still tend to be a bit sweet so I haven't tried substituting in Splenda or similar for the sugar yet. 

Flourless Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 cup super chunky peanut butter*
1 cup packed golden brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

I like to use Skippy's Natural Super Chunk Extra Crunchy with 17g of fat per 2 tbsp serving

Preheat oven to 350F. Mix the first five ingredients, then add the chips.
Using moistened hands, form generous 1 tbsp dough balls per cookie (or use a small ice cream scoop).
Place dough balls on baking sheets about two inches apart - flatten with fork. Bake about 10-12 minutes. The cookies may not look done but they are - they will taste burnt if left in for too long.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Do not try to move the cookies right away - instead, cool on the baking sheets for 5-10 minutes to prevent crumbling!
Makes about 18-24 cookies.


If you're looking for a bit more fiber, I have made these Flourless Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cookies from another recipe blog I follow. But they kind of taste like hippies made them and they only taste fresh up to 48 hours after baking.

Recipe: Chocolate Nutella Cookies

I'm nuts for Nutella. Here’s what I love about it:

Just two tablespoons per serving size is four grams of saturated fat and 12 grams of fat total. Plus pretty simple ingredients as long as you or your little CFer doesn't have a nut allergy.

110% of credit for this recipe has to go to my friend Sarah over at Simply Social. She is a million times more creative than this mom.

Chocolate Nutella Cookies

1 1/4 cup flour (can sub in half whole-wheat flour)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup Nutella
1/3 cup skim millk (could sub in whole milk for CFers)

Preheat oven to 325F. In a small bowl, whisk flour, cocoa powder, and baking powder together.

Beat together the butter (room temp), sugar, and brown sugar with mixer. Add vanilla and Nutella and mix until at medium speed until smooth.

Add half of the flour mixture and mix until combined. Add milk. Then add remaining flour mixture and mix completely. Wrap dough in clear wrap refrigerate the dough for an hour.

When you are ready to bake, line pan with non-stick baking mat or parchment, scoop and roll dough into 1 inch balls and press down with the bottom of a glass to make cookies.

Bake for 10-12 minutes depending on your oven. Cookies are done when they start to crack on top. Let cool on pan for 5 minutes before moving to cooling rack.

Sarah actually used this recipe to make football whoopie pies in honor of the 2013 Super Bowl. If you’re ambitious enough, follow this link to her recipe for the marshmallow creme filling.  

Recipe: Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

These muffins are a staple in our house, I can't keep them in stock. They don't make exceptionally large sized muffins - they are more the size of a cupcake. Perfect for toddlers. Easy to add calories by using full fat sour cream and whole milk.

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Makes about 16 muffins - sometimes I can squeeze in 17 if I'm lucky!

1 and 3/4 cup flour (I use half white, half wheat)
3/4 cup sugar (I used half white half brown)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup whole milk
3 large overripe bananas (you want about one cup mushed bananas in the end)
1/2 to 3/4 semisweet chocolate chips - when I use the mini chocolate chips I use about a 1/2 cup but if I only have the regular size, I increase to 3/4 cup.

Instructions:
Combine dry ingredients in one bowl.
Combine wet ingredients (except the bananas) in another bowl.
Fold wet into dry ingredients until just folded.
Then fold in the bananas, then fold in the chocolate chips
Fill muffin pan with paper holders, then fill each holder two-thirds of the way full with batter.

For regular sized muffins, bake 22-25 minutes at 350 degrees Farenheit until brown on top. Cool 5 minutes on rack. Makes about 16 muffins.

For mini muffins, bake for 18 minutes at 350 degrees Farenheit until just brown on top. Cool on rack. Makes about 55-60 mini muffins.

For banana bread, just use a loaf pan and bake at 350 degrees Farenheit for a little more than 1 hour or until fork comes out clean in center.

Notes:
I will often toss our uneaten overripe bananas in the freezer whole, then thaw them out in the microwave for a few minutes (or on the counter for an hour) and use them in this recipe. These muffins freeze nicely in a ziploc freezer bag. When I make the mini sized ones, I pop frozen ones in the kids' lunch bag in the morning and they are thawed out by snack time. I use half white flour/half whole wheat flour to include some fiber. This dries out the muffins a little bit and makes them tastes a little like bran muffins. But the kids still eat them!

Q: Who likes yogurt?

A: Unfortunately not Lil Guy. Which really stinks because after much searching I just finally found a great full fat yogurt.

Yoplait Simplait is marketed as "Made with only six natural ingredients, each cup of Yoplait Simplait delivers a spectacular taste experience."

Shh...don't tell anyone but it also delivers a nice chunk of fat with it - 7 grams and 200 calories. That's almost as much fat as in the Stonyfield Farms whole fat yogurt - which, incidentally, I can never find in our supermarket. And nearly twice as much fat as the YoBaby baby yogurt.

Recipe: Chicken Divan

Credit for this recipe goes to Parade magazine (August 5, 2012) issue. If you're looking for an even quicker and easier version, check out Chef Jeff's recipe here.
  
Chicken Divan
2 whole boneless, skinless chicken bBrreasts (about a 1 1/2 lb total), cooked and sliced thin
1 large bunch of broccoli, trimmed and cut into 4-inch long spears
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 stick unsalted butter, diced
5 tbsp all-purpose flour
2 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup heavy cream
3 tbsp medium-dry sherry*
fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
 
* A dry white wine can be substituted for sherry, or check out these great subbing tips. You can also pick up an affordable bottle of cooking sherry at Trader Joe's.
 
Serves 6 and nutrition per serving is as follows: 370 calories, 13g carbs, 32g protein, 20g fat, 120mg cholesterol, 560mg sodium, 3g fiber

1. Cook the chicken as you like it - bake it, grill it, etc. Then cook the broccoli in a large saucepan of boiling, salted water for 6 to 8 minutes or until tender. Drain and set aside covered.
 
2. In another saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. Add flour and cook, stirring for 3 minutes. Add chicken broth and bring to a boil. Cook on low, stirring for 10 minutes or until thick.
 
3. In a mixing bowl, beat cream with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form, then add to the flour mixture. Next add the sherry and lemon juice to taste. Season with salt and pepper.
 
4. Arrange broccoli on a flameproof platter, a 2-quart gratin dish, or another shallow casserole dish. Top with half the sauce. Then stir 1/4 cup Parmesan into the other half of the sauce. Arrange chicken on broccoli and pour the remaining sauce over the top. Sprinkle with the remaining 1/4 cup of Parmesan.
 
5. Broil about 6 inches from heat for 1 minute or until sauce is golden and bubbling.
 
I really like this recipe because it's lower-carb and easy to create a high fat version for CFers and a low fat version for the rest of the family. This would involve just making two separate sauces - one with regular sodium chicken broth and cream for the CFer and one with low-sodium chicken broth and low fat milk for the rest of the family. Serve with whole wheat pasta or brown rice for a heartier meal.

Stuff I like for toddlers

As a parent of a CFer, you soon realize the entire baby food aisle is USELESS. I've never seen so many non-fat options in my life.

How to get extra calories into a toddler? Here are some items I like for older babies and toddlers with CF. What are your favorites?

Happy Bellies Oatmeal
It's a measley one gram of fat but we really like this oatmeal for its consistency. Instead of mixing it with water or milk, we combine it with a whole jar of baby food fruit and add some butter and salt to the mix. Yum - one of Lil Guy's favorites.

Earth's Best Baby Food
Earth's Best has some good options for baby food meats, which are important for the vitamins needed for little CFers. Their Seasonal Harvest Variety Pack doesn't have a lot of fat in it but again we just added butter and salt. Lil Guy loved these combos much better than straight baby food meat (ick). You'll fare a bit better in fat content withe the Gourmet Meals Variety Pack - the beef one has a whopping 7g of fat in it!

Annie's Cheddar Bunnies
With 7g of fat per serving, the bunnies appear to be a slightly better option than Pepperidge Farm goldfish.

High Fat French Fries
You don't need to run to McDonalds every time you you want high fat fries. Found these in the frozen food section - just read the labels to find the right ones. Condiments may take a while - Lil Guy didn't like ketchup until he was about a year and a half. He also didn't like dip for chips until about that time. And he still doesn't like ranch sauce. Of course he loves the sugary sweet and sour sauce!

Plum Organics Banana Pumpkin
We always make one stop in the baby food aisle and that is for Plum Organics Banana Pumpkin squeeze bags. There are other flavors but the Banana Pumpkin packs 100 calories into We love it for quick fixes at clinic - no need for enzymes because there isn't any fat in it.

Sunmaid Yogurt Raisins
I'm on the fence about these. The tiny box says 20% daily value of saturated fat - score! But when I look at the ingredients I still see a lot of sugar. Both kids love them so I can't keep them in stock.

Got Fries?

Well THANK YOU NBC News for this insightful article about good and bad fries!

CF-Related Diabetes

Interesting article on CF-related diabetes. It doesn't mention anything about diet and its impact on CF-related diabetes but I'll keep looking. It will be interesting if research eventually shows that CF doctors need to start addressing this earlier with diet changes and possibly medication.
http://www.sciencecodex.com/cystic_fibrosis_disrupts_pancreas_two_ways_in_cfrelated_diabetes-98536

Congrats! You're expecting a baby with CF...now what?

With improved pre-natal testing, some parents are finding out their baby has CF even before the newborn screening results. This is great news to keep CF babies healthy but can make parents very stressed out. It's hard to digest (excuse the pun) the news that your baby has CF while also going through the general ups and downs of pregnancy (READ: hormones).

So first off, congrats! You're still having a baby! A beautiful, intelligent, HAPPY baby!

Consider adding the following five items to your registry list to make your life a bit easier when baby arrives. Experienced CF parents: what would you add to this list?


1. The Diaper Genie. Yes it's pricey. Yes the refills are ridiculously pricey. No the company is not paying me for this endorsement. But CF babies have stinky poos. Even Lil Guy's pediatrician commented on it in the office one time ("Wow, that's really...pungent"). We didn't hire him for his tactfulness.

The Diaper Genie seems to be the only thing that contains the stench. I don't know if it's the state-of-the-art canister design or those $6.50 a pop refills but it's a necessity. We have one in a corner of our kitchen and can't smell a thing.

2. An electric steam sterilizer. After about a week of boiling nebs you will just about have had it with that process. We finally caved and bought one for our home...and grandma's home...and the other grandma's home.

The Avent model we have is discontinued or I'd recommend it. The new one Phillips came out with is okay - it's bigger, has a shorter cycle, three separate levels, and a couple dumb features like automatically turning on when you plug it in. Make sure to buy an electric steam sterilizer- the microwave version doesn't work with anything metal.

Percussor cup

3. Percussor cup. It takes some of the frustration out of chest therapy if you feel your hands are too big or too small. Ask your respiratory therapist for one and don't forget to upgrade to a larger size when baby gets older.

4. Paper towels. Sorry if you are one of those eco-friendly moms or dads. I was like you once too. Now I buy the jumbo pack of Bounty Select-A-Size and plant a tree every year to make myself feel better. You'll end up using a lot of paper towels to air dry the nebs (that fancy sterilizer doesn't do it for you). Plus for the extra hand washing and cleaning to keep the environment clean.

5. A good diaper rash cream. We dealt with a couple wicked cases of diaper rash when Lil Guy came home. I'm not sure if it's the body getting used to the enzymes or what. It was unlike any diaper rash I had dealt with before with cracked skin. Those were honestly our darkest days dealing with that diaper rash.

I recommend using the purple Desitin, it has the highest amount of zinc oxide in it. Desitin not working? Try a combination of Ilex paste and Vaseline. UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital in San Francisco gives excellent instructions on how to use Ilex paste - follow them carefully because it's a strange substance to use!

You don't need a prescription for Ilex paste but it can be hard to find. Luckily you can buy Ilex paste online direct from the manufacturer. Here's more about how to remedy tough diaper rashes.

Pretty Decent Spart Dip

We are stuck inside today due to another air quality alert so my project du jour is to clean out the fridge and freezer of anything that is starting to head south of the expiration date. Or has already made it there.

I had just enough ingredients to make this spinach and artichoke dip that I love and wanted to share with you. The good news is it's filled with lots of yummy cheeses and spinach, it's lower in carbs and is a great source of vitamins, protein, sodium and fat. The bad news is that I made it while Lil Guy is napping so it might be all gone before he gets a chance to try it.

Pretty Decent Spart Dip

One 8-oz package of cream cheese softened (leave on the counter for a bit)
1/8 cup mayo
1/8 cup sour cream
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese or a parmesan/romano blend
1/4 shredded mozzarella or shredded cheddar cheese
2 cloves garlic minced (or the minced garlic equivalent in a jar)
Dash of salt
One 14-oz can of artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1/2 cup frozen spinach, thawed and drained
A little bit of Asiago cheese if desired

Mix all cheeses, mayo, garlic, salt with a spatula. Then gently stir in the chopped artichokes and spinach. Bake in a greased glass baking dish at 350F for 25-30 minutes until bubbly and browned. Serve warmed with pita chips or tortilla chips.

Notes:

• CFers should make sure all ingredients are full fat and not the "light" version.
• While I love fresh spinach, the stuff that comes in a frozen bag in the freezer section is already chopped and makes this a lot faster for preparation.
• Don't like/don't have artichokes? Just add more spinach - about 1/4 or 1/2 cup more additional depending on your personal preference.

Have leftovers? Try stuffing a chicken breast with a little bit of this stuff and baking in the oven.

No Boston Market Why!

Was disappointed to read this article in today’s USA Today about Boston Market planning to lower sodium in their menu offerings. Am I the only CF mother that gets anxious reading stories about making food healthier? From a proposed junk food tax to healthier school lunches, I’ve become paranoid that when Lil Guy is older, he’s going to be overtaxed for his nutritional needs and labeled as the kid with the “special lunch” at school.

Don’t get me wrong, understandably the vast majority of the U.S. population is facing an obesity epidemic while just 30,000 CFers are trying to maintain a good weight. Just another example of some of the paradoxes CF patients face in their daily lives.

Anyway...

Boston Market is still an excellent place for CFers with lots of calories, fat and sodium in their meals, especially their kids meals. Check out their easy-to-use

nutrition page.

Go with:

• Fried chicken; the dark meat in particular packs a lot of fat and calories
• Meatloaf
• Creamed spinach or squash casserole
• Salad options – most are high-fat, high sodium

Stay away from:

• Chicken pot pies, they are high in fat and sodium but also pack a lot of carbs
• Sweet potato casserole, with almost 90 g of carbs. Not every CFer may agree with our decision to shun carbs but even I think that is a lot for a side dish.
• Watch the sandwiches too, some of them seem carb-heavy.

All is not lost – was very happy to see this quote from Chief Brand Officer Sara Bittorf at the end of the article:  “We don’t want it to be misconstrued that Boston Market is becoming a healthy fast-casual chain. We’re never going to have the healthiest mac and cheese on the block.”

Thank goodness for that!